A Planned Parenthood doctor told a House hearing Thursday that men can get pregnant and have babies.
“Men can have pregnancies, especially trans men,” said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for primary and trans care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.
Kumar was testifying at a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing called by Democrats to discuss how restricting abortions can harm patients. He was replying to a question from Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., who interrupted Kumar and specified that he was asking if biological men can become pregnant.
“Somebody with a uterus may have the capability of becoming pregnant, whether they’re a woman or a man,” Kumar said. “That doesn’t make a difference.”
“OK we’re done,” Clyde replied.
“Not every person with a uterus has the ability to become pregnant,” Kumar continued. “This is medicine.”
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Clyde rejected that answer and said basic biology holds that men and women have different chromosomes that make the two sexes different and gives only women the option of bearing children.
“I can’t believe it’s necessary to say this, but men cannot get pregnant and cannot give birth, regardless of how they identify themselves,” Clyde said. “Why in the world would Democrats have brought in a person whose title is ‘director of trans care’ for an abortion hearing when only biological women can become pregnant?”
Clyde pressed another witness whether fetal heartbeats can be heard at six weeks of pregnancy, after Stacey Abrams, a Democratic candidate to be the next governor of Georgia, said there is “no such thing” as a heartbeat that early, and parents are only hearing a “manufactured sound.”
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Clyde asked Dr. Nisha Verma, a fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health, whether a fetal heartbeat is a manufactured sound, but Verma declined to answer his yes-or-no question.
“I’d love to answer your question but like so many things in medicine, it’s complex,” she said. When pressed again, Verma said, “I’d love to answer your question, I need a little bit of time to do so.”
Democrats and their witnesses used the hearing to stress the importance of making abortion as accessible as possible. Both witnesses and lawmakers argued that the Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade is allowing states to impose abortion “bans” that limit women’s freedom.
